Time between drilling and first production has little effect on oil well production

According to North Dakota production data, the length of time that an oil well has been drilled but remains uncompleted—meaning it has not yet started producing—has little effect on its initial production level. Oil wells are sometimes drilled but remain uncompleted for other operational or economic reasons. The North Dakota data provides insights into oil well completion practices. More »

Natural gas-fired power generation has grown in Florida, displacing coal

Florida added nearly 16 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale natural gas-fired electric generation between 2008 and 2018, about one-quarter (24%) of all U.S. natural gas installations during this time and the most of any state. During the same period, electric utility net generation in Florida grew about 15%, increasing natural gas's share of the in-state generation fuel mix from nearly half (47%) to three-fourths (72%) of the total. EIA expects natural gas-fired generation capacity to continue to grow, displacing more emissions-intensive and less cost-competitive generation fuel sources such as coal and petroleum liquids. More »

Permian Basin natural gas prices up as a new pipeline nears completion

Natural gas spot prices at the Waha hub in western Texas, located near Permian Basin production, settled at $1.55/million British thermal units (MMBtu) on August 15, the highest price since March 2019. This price increase coincides with the 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) Gulf Coast Express Pipeline (GCX) preparing to enter service. GCX will provide much-needed additional natural gas takeaway pipeline capacity from the Permian region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. More »

Electric generation transforms primary energy into secondary energy

In 2018, U.S. utility-scale electricity generation facilities consumed nearly 39 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) of energy to provide 13 quads of electricity for end-use consumption. Of the 101 quads of total primary energy consumed in 2018, U.S. electricity generation accounted for more than 38% of total end-use consumption. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) U.S. electricity flow diagram visualizes U.S. electricity flow from energy sources consumed to generate electricity and electricity net imports to disposition (conversion and other losses, plant use, and end-use consumption). More »

North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming consume the most residential energy per capita

In 2017, people in the United States consumed an average of 61 million British thermal units (Btu) of energy per capita in the residential sector, a 2% decrease from 2016 and the lowest level since 1967. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Key Statistics and Indicators section of the State Energy Data System (SEDS) show that in 2017, North Dakota had the highest residential energy consumption per capita of any state at 91.5 million Btu and Hawaii had the lowest at 23.9 million Btu. More »

Average U.S. construction costs for solar generation continue to decrease

According to 2017 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for newly constructed utility-scale electric generators in the United States, annual capacity-weighted average construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems continued to decrease. At the same time, costs for onshore wind turbines and natural gas generators increased slightly. These three generation technologies accounted for more than 97% of total capacity added to the grid in the United States in 2017. Since 2013, average costs for solar photovoltaic generators have fallen by 37%, wind by 13%, and natural gas by 4.7%. Total investment in U.S. electric generating capacity in 2017 decreased by 27% from the previous year. More »